Friday Headlines

the weekly newsletter from Dr Ruth Weeks, Headmistress

Geographers visit incredible Iceland

08 September 2017

On 6 July, 24 GCSE Geography students, accompanied by the Geography department teachers, set off from Birmingham Airport for Reykjavik, Iceland.

Upon arrival, the group met with their excellent guide, Petur, and headed straight off to see the ‘bridge between two continents’ before travelling on to see some stunning
coastlines and geothermal energy in action.

Over the next few days the group were treated to seeing some of the highlights of Iceland including stunning waterfalls, geysers, coastal formations at Snaefellsnes and the
beautiful city of Reykjavik. The group were also treated to an afternoon at the Fontana Spa where they were able to relax in geothermally heated pools and then cool down in
the lake – if they were feeling brave enough! The girls also saw some of Iceland’s wildlife including puffins, gannets and arctic terns.

Iceland is a fantastic destination to see tectonic landscapes and the group saw the best of this when they hiked up to the crater of Eldfell, a volcano that erupted in 1974.
It is possible to find spots of tephra that are still warm from the eruption over 20 years ago! From the top, the girls could also see the now infamous Eyjafjallajökull which
is the subject of one of the GCSE case studies. Our descent gave the opportunity to explore the newly built eruption centre which gave them an insight into how Eldfell’s
eruption impacted the island of Heimaey and how the people of the island recovered from this devastating disaster.

The trip was blessed with excellent weather with remarkably dry days to accompany the long hours on sunshine – the trip was a truly unforgettable experience and we all hope to
return soon!

Edgbaston High School is easy to reach by public transport. Alternatively, areas including Solihull, Walsall, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, Streetly, Kinver, Stourbridge, Hagley and Halesowen are covered by the School's own minibus services or by private coaches organised by parents.